The tunnel buzzed with tension. Barcelona's players huddled, Hansi Flick at the center, his voice low but electric.
"Keep the press, keep the tempo!" He clapped, emphasizing how serious he was. "Sam, I want you dropping into pockets. Pull Van Dijk out of position. Gavi, Pedri, crash those channels".
Sam cracked his neck, eyes blazing. "Let's give them a second half to remember".
Somewhere at the back of his mind, a voice he last heard in the FIFA World Cup final was already rearing its head again.
'Win!' 'Win!' 'Win!'
His eyes blazed like fire burned inside them.
FWEEE!
The whistle blew again, and the second half began.
Flick started the second half with a tactical switch, bringing De Jong to central midfield as Raphinha took the central attacking midfield position. Gavi became the man who operated in the wing, as Sam now floated between striker and false nine.
Liverpool adjusted too. Arne Slot brought on Curtis Jones for Endo, seeking more vertical drive on the attack.
The chessboard was set. And the pieces moved fast.
BZZZ!
All hell broke loose in the stadium as soon as the whistle blew as both clubs came out with endless energy, tearing at each other with reckless abandon in the first few minutes, and the stunner finally came.
Barcelona stung Liverpool first.
It came in the 48th minute, and Pedri started it.
Pedri skipped past Jones with a nutmeg, surged forward with the ball, before flicking a reverse pass into Sam's feet.
Sam let the ball roll across his body, selling Konate with a deadly feint, and just as the whole world expected him to shoot, including Alisson, he played a no-look flick into Yamal's path.
Yamal didn't hesitate.
One touch, one strike. Bottom corner.
BOOM!
The Spotify Camp Nou erupted.
Lamine Yamal wheeled away, arms wide, face alight as FC Barcelona fans in the stadium had a meltdown, turning the stadium into a cauldron of noise.
Sam tackled Yamal in celebration, followed by a dogpile of teammates.
1-0 Barcelona.
They had the lead now, but Liverpool didn't falter. If anything, they turned on the heat to bite back after the home side bit first.
In the 52nd minute of the game, Salah turned on the afterburners, leaving Balde trailing in his wake. His cross found Nunez, whose bullet header was somehow clawed away by Jose Garcia.
The crowd roared his name.
In the 57th minute, tempers flared as Gavi went into a crunching tackle on Mac Allister. The referee blew the whistle, showing a yellow card, but it was not enough for the Liverpool players as chaos erupted.
Jones shoved Gavi.
Pedri stepped in. So did Frimpong.
The referee calmed it down, handing out warnings. But after that, the intensity on the pitch doubled.
In the 62nd minute, Hansi Flick made a substitution, taking off Frankie De Jong and bringing on Ferran Torres to add more energy to the attack and stretch Liverpool wide again.
Sam now operated purely as a central false nine, wreaking havoc.
And then, in the 65th minute of the game, magic happened.
It came like lightning.
Pau Cubarsi intercepted a through ball and instantly sprayed a long diagonal to Ferran Torres. Ferran chested the ball down, drove past Robertson, and crossed low into the box.
BZZZ!
Sam buzzed into action. It almost felt like he waited all his life for the moment as he stung like a bee.
He reacted with assassin instincts, arriving like a freight train, dinking the ball with the outside of his right boot into the far corner.
Class. Cold-blooded. Clinical.
BOOM!
The Spotify Camp Nou lost its mind.
2-0 Barcelona.
Sam charged to the corner flag, holding his ear out to the fans, indicating that the noise was not loud enough as the stadium melted a second time.
"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"
They chanted, going crazy out of excitement.
Liverpool were chasing ghosts now. And so, Arne Slot made a gamble, abandoning any semblance of control entirely in order to turn his team into a squad capable of hunting ghosts.
He made a triple sub in the 70th minute as Florian Wirtz, Harvey Elliot, and Conor Bradley came on. Arne Slot was mad enough to take off Salah and Gakpo. It was gambling at its highest order.
And now, Liverpool chased the game.
Barcelona responded with Hansi Flick bringing on Marcus Rashford and Inigo Martinez for Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi.
After those changes, the game ignited even more, rising to an entirely new level of intensity as Liverpool chased the game like rabid hounds.
And then, in the 75th minute…
POW!
Liverpool scored. It was an absolute rocket, and suddenly, they had life.
Curtis Jones drove through midfield and fed Florian Wirtz, who tapped it back for Szoboszlai.
The Hungarian unleashed a screamer from 25 yards that kissed the underside of the bar before going in, stunning the stadium.
After that, momentum swung like a pendulum.
Between minutes 77 to 82, it was a literal storm resistance at the Nou Camp as Barca dropped deeper to maintain their lead.
Jose Garcia turned into a prime Petr Cech, making two critical saves, one from Nunez, another a diving stop from Florian Wirtz.
Araujo organized the line like a general.
Balde cleared a goalmouth scramble to keep Barca in the lead.
It was a pressure cooker in the final minutes. In the 88th minute, Sam dropped deep to collect a long ball and held off Conor Bradley with brute strength, and that was what opened an outlet for Barcelona again.
Sam spun with the ball, leaving Bradley for dead as he threaded a pass into Ferran, who pulled it back for Pedri who was arriving late.
Side-foot.
BAM!
Net.
GOAL!
3-1.
The FC Barcelona faithful roared in excitement.
Game… Set.
Champions League statement from the reigning champions. It was a tight game, but they got the job done, dismantling Liverpool.
FWEEE!
The game came to an end.
[FULL-TIME: FC Barcelona 3-1 Liverpool]
The Spotify Camp Nou stood in ovation.
The players embraced. Hansi Flick raised his fist to the roar of fans. Sam walked to the fans, clapping above his head.
And once again, he won another consecutive man of the match award with an unreal performance of 1 goal, 1 assist, a stunning 94% passing accuracy, 7 duels won, and 3 chances created as a striker.
He had a perfect 10/10 rating at the end of the game.
This was more than a win.
This was a warning to Europe.